Düren station

Düren
Station and RE1 train
Operations
Category	3
Type	Crossing station
Platforms in use	8
DS100 code	KDN
Construction and location
Opened	1 September 1841
Location	Düren
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Country	Germany
50°48′39″N 6°28′57″E / 50.81083°N 6.4825°E / 50.81083; 6.4825
Route information
Cologne–Aachen HSL S 12 Jülich–Düren–Heimbach Börde Railway
List of railway stations in North Rhine-Westphalia

Düren station is located to the north of the centre of Düren and is the largest station in the city and the district of Düren. It is located at the intersection of the Cologne–Aachen high-speed line with the lines to Linnich, Heimbach and Euskirchen. Until 1992 it was also connected to the Erft Railway.

The train is served by Regional-Express, Regionalbahn and S-Bahn trains. It is the terminus of line S12 Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn. In addition, a pair of Intercity-Express between Aachen, Cologne and Berlin and a single InterCity train from Berlin stop at the station. The station was opened on 1 September 1841 by the Rhenish Railway Company on its original line from Cologne to Belgium.

History

Düren station in 1920

Part of the station opend in 1841

Düren station was established on 1 September 1841 with the opening of the Aachen–Düren–Cologne line. The station became more and more important during the period of industrialisation. This resulted in the opening of the following lines:

1864	Düren – Euskirchen
1869	Düren – Bedburg – Neuss
1873	Düren – Jülich – Linnich
1903	Düren – Heimbach

Due to its ever-improving accessibility Düren was served by increasing numbers of express trains on the various lines. Thus, there were express trains via Euskirchen to Bonn and via Bedburg and Neuss to Dusseldorf.

A depot for the maintenance of locomotives was also built at Düren. It was originally located immediately next to the station. In 1930, construction began on a new railway depot, which was located on the Aachen–Cologne line towards Merzenich. The construction took about three years and it became operational in 1933.

Unlike the rest of Düren, which was destroyed by the attacks of the Allies, the station during the was largely unscathed by World War II. During the war, the engine depot was badly damaged and it was only partially rebuilt after the war. Consequently Düren depot lost its importance.

Post-war

Old turntable and Rurtalbahn train in the station

The great destruction of Düren during World War II reduced the city's financial resources. Decades old plans for remodelling the tracks and the construction of a new station building were therefore not implemented. Nevertheless on 15 May 1949, D-Züge (express trains operated using coaches with corridors) began serving Düren station again. There were two express services: one from Brussels via Aachen, Cologne and Wiesbaden to Frankfurt, the second from Aachen via Cologne, Wiesbaden, Heidelberg, Stuttgart and Ulm to Munich. Thus, it was possible to travel from Düren without changing at Cologne or Aachen.

Following a significant fall in freight traffic, Düren depot closed on 1 July 1986 and was demolished three years later. As a result Düren became a hub almost entirely for passenger services with little freight transport. In the next few decades, an increasing number of fast services stopped in Düren, including InterCity, InterRegio, EuroCity and night trains.

The period of fast services ended with the modernisation of the line in the early 21st century. In December 2002, the last D-Züge on the Cologne–Ostend route and the last night train on the Aachen–Dresden route were abandoned. A year later, the InterCity and night train lines were also modified so that Düren was no longer served by long-distance services. The station was also downgraded to a category 4 station.

The mayor of Düren unsuccessfully tried to get Intercity-Express and Thalys high speed trains on the Aachen–Cologne line to stop at Düren. Deutsche Bahn agreed, however, that the station would be upgraded to category 3 as soon as InterCity or night trains returned to the Aachen-Cologne line.

The upgrading of the Aachen–Düren–Cologne line and the related establishment of a S-Bahn line from Düren to Cologne led to a renewed increase in the importance of the Düren node. However, the Düren–Bedburg line was dismantled, the Düren–Euskirchen line was closed and the Düren–Jülich–Linnich and the Düren–Heimbach lines were sold to the Dürener Kreisbahn (Düren District Railway, DKB). Passenger and freight traffic on the latter lines was subsequently revitalised by the DKB. These services are now operated by Rurtalbahn.

The station building has been preserved until today. With the development of the high-speed line between Cologne and Aachen, Düren station was partially restored and completely modernised. The tracks and platforms were renewed and later the station building was renovated and modernised in stages. During the first stage of the upgrading of the Cologne–Düren line the platforms were all remodelled and upgraded to make them accessible by the disabled. The entrance to the station from Cologne was rebuilt for a top speed of 160 km/h. During the second stage tracks 1 and 2 will be upgraded for 200 km/h operations.^[1]

Service at the station

The station is fully accessible with lifts available at all platforms. There are also guidelines on the ground for the blind. Services are available in the station building, including a ticket office, a bookstore, a bank, toilets, lockers and a DB-Service Store. The station also has a Bahnhofsmission (a charity that gives assistance of various sorts at German stations). At the southern exit to the station is a subway to the newly built bicycle parking, which was opened in September 2010 after several months of construction.

Preceding station		DB AG		Following station
Aachen Hbf Terminus		ICE 10		Köln Hbf toward Berlin Ostbahnhof
Langerwehe toward Aachen Hbf		RE 1 NRW-Express		Horrem toward Paderborn Hbf
Langerwehe toward Aachen Hbf		RE 9 Rhein-Sieg-Express		Horrem toward Siegen
Langerwehe toward Heerlen		RB 20 euregiobahn		Terminus
Preceding station		Rurtalbahn		Following station
Im Großen Tal toward Linnich SIG Combibloc		RB 21 Rurtal-Bahn Northern Branch		Terminus
Terminus		RB 21 Rurtal-Bahn Southern Branch		Annakirmesplatz toward Heimbach
Preceding station		Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn		Following station
Terminus		S12		Merzenich toward Au (Sieg)

Notes

1. ^ (in German) Ausbaustrecke (ABS) 4. Köln -Düren - Aachen - Paris/Amsterdam: 1. Baustufe Köln - Düren. August 2002. pp. 3, 14 16 page brochure 

External links

• "Düren" (in German). NRWbahnarchiv. André Joost. http://nrwbahnarchiv.bplaced.net/kln/KDN.htm. Retrieved 20 May 2011. 
• "Station photos" (in German). guidorademacher.de. http://www.guidorademacher.de/Sonstiges/Dueren%20Einst%20und%20Jetzt/Dueren%20einst%20und%20jetzt.htm. Retrieved 20 May 2011. 
• "Trackwork at Düren during construction of the Düren-Köln high-speed line" (in German). http://www-users.rwth-aachen.de/christoph.schmitz2/strecke/ba10.1.html. Retrieved 20 May 2011. 
• "Track plan" (in German) (PDF (166 kB)). VRS. http://www.vrsinfo.de/minis/Lageplaene/u_Dueren_Bf.pdf. Retrieved 20 May 2011. 
• "Station development plan" (in German). City of Düren. http://www.o-sp.de/dueren/plan/projekt1.php?M=1&MP=1. Retrieved 20 May 2011.